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turning to page one
turning to page one
Will sits across from Sean.
SEAN
So you might be working for Uncle Sam.
WILL
I don't know.
SEAN
Gerry says the meeting went well.
WILL
I guess.
SEAN
What did you think?
WILL
What did I think?
A beat. Will has obviously been stewing on this.
WILL (cont'd)
Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody
puts a code on my desk, something nobody
else can break. So I take a shot at
it and maybe I break it. And I'm real
happy with myself, 'cause I did my job
well. But maybe that code was the
location of some rebel army in North
Africa or the Middle East. Once they
have that location, they bomb the
village where the rebels were hiding
and fifteen hundred people I never had
a problem with get killed.
(rapid fire)
Now the politicians are sayin' "send
in the Marines to secure the area"
'cause they don't give a shit. It
won't be their kid over there, gettin'
shot. Just like it wasn't them when
their number got called, 'cause they
were pullin' a tour in the National
Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie
takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he
comes home to find that the plant he
used to work at got exported to the
country he just got back from.
And the guy who put the shrapnel in
his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll
work for fifteen cents a day and no
bathroom breaks.
Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes
the only reason he was over there was
would sell us oil at a good price.
And of course the oil companies used
the skirmish to scare up oil prices so
they could turn a quick buck. A cute,
little ancillary benefit for them but
it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty
a gallon. And naturally they're takin'
their sweet time bringin' the oil back
and maybe even took the liberty of
hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes
to drink seven and sevens and play
slalom with the icebergs and it ain't
too long 'til he hits one, spills the
oil, and kills all the sea-life in the
North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of
work and he can't afford to drive so
he's got to walk to the job interviews
which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his
ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids.
And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every
time he tries to get a bite to eat the
only blue-plate special they're servin'
is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
A beat.
WILL (cont'd)
So what'd I think? I'm holdin' out
for somethin' better. I figure I'll
eliminate the middle man. Why not
just shoot my buddy, take his job and
give it to his sworn enemy, hike up
gas prices, bomb a village, club a
baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join
the National Guard? Christ, I could
be elected President.
SEAN
Do you think you're alone?
WILL
What?
SEAN
Do you have a soul-mate?
WILL
Define that.
SEAN
Someone who challenges you in every
way. Who takes you places, opens things
up for you. A soul-mate.
WILL
Yeah.
Sean waits.
WILL (cont'd)
Shakespeare, Neitzche, Frost, O'Connor,
Chaucer, Pope, Kant--
SEAN
They're all dead.
WILL
Not to me, they're not.
SEAN
But you can't give back to them, Will.
WILL
Not without a heater and some serious
smelling salts, no...
SEAN
That's what I'm saying, Will. You'll
never have that kind of relationship
in a world where you're afraid to take
the first step because all you're seeing
are the negative things that might
happen ten miles down the road.
WILL
Oh, what? You're going to take the
professor's side on this?
SEAN
Don't give me you line of shit.
WILL
I didn't want the job.
SEAN
It's not about that job. I'm not saying
you should work for the government.
But, you could do anything you want.
And there are people who work their
whole lives layin' brick so their kids
have a chance at the kind of opportunity
you have. What do you want to do?
WILL
I didn't ask for this.
SEAN
Nobody gets what they ask for, Will.
That's a cop-out.
WILL
Why is it a cop-out? I don't see
anythin' wrong with layin' brick, that's
somebody's home I'm buildin'. Or fixin'
somebody's car, somebody's gonna get
to work the next day 'cause of me.
There's honor in that.
SEAN
You're right, Will. Any man who takes
a forty minute train ride so those
college kids can come in in the morning
and their floors will be clean and
their trash cans will be empty is an
honorable man.
A beat. Will says nothing.
SEAN (cont'd)
And when they get drunk and puke in
the sink, they don't have to see it
the next morning because of you. That's
real work, Will. And there is honor
in that. Which I'm sure is why you
took the job.
A beat.
SEAN (cont'd)
I just want to know why you decided to
sneak around at night, writing on
chalkboards and lying about it.
(beat)
'Cause there's no honor in that.
Will is silent.
SEAN (cont'd)
Something you want to say?
Sean gets up, goes to the door and opens it.
SEAN (cont'd)
Why don't you come back when you have
an answer for me.
WILL
What?
SEAN
If you won't answer my questions, you're
wasting my time.
WILL
What?
Will loses it, slams the door shut.
WILL (cont'd)
Fuck you!
Sean has finally gotten to Will.
WILL (cont'd)
Who the fuck are you to lecture me
about life? You fuckin' burnout!
Where's your "soul-mate?!"
Sean lets this play out. Possible "shepard" change.
WILL (cont'd)
Dead! She dies and you just cash in
your chips. That's a fuckin' cop-out!
SEAN
I been there. I played my hand.
WILL
That's right. And you fuckin' lost!
And some people would have the sack to
lose a big hand like that and still
come back and ante up again!
SEAN
Look at me. What do you want to do?
A beat. Will looks up.
SEAN (cont'd)
You and your bullshit. You got an
answer for everybody. But I asked you
a straight question and you can't give
me a straight answer. Because you
don't know.
Sean goes to the door and opens it. Will walks out.
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